Laws of the Virasana Empire
Jurisdiction in the Virasana Empire is not based on written laws. Legal disputes are settled by the ruling noble of any given domain, and their word is final. It is an absolutist aristocracy, after all. But there is a set of historically grown customs that are treated as laws by everyone, even most nobles, and they are the groundwork for any legal discourse. History * mostly based on customs grown during the Lost Years * relative uniformity across the Empire is a secondary effect of the standartization efforts of Anandi Virasana and Gregorius Quetzal * also relatively uniform due to the catalogue of the Moneylenders Guild that also offers legal services and maintains a single, well organized catalogue of precedents Common crimes and consequences The following charts note the most common punishment someone can force upon a perpetrator if convicted for some of the most common crimes. Due to the enormous cultural differences between the noble houses and the planets they rule, those punishments can vary wildly in shape from location to location, though usually not in severity. Annotations * death by public torture: encompasses any lethal punishment making a point of inflicting pain to the victim, i.e. threading through the wheel, disemboweling, crucification, burning, stoning, staking, etc. * death by hanging: encompasses all lethal punishment aiming for a clean death, i.e. hanging, beheading, swift poisons, throwing out of an airlock, etc. * whipping: encompasses all forms of corporeal, not initially lethal punishment, i.e. whipping, flogging, tarring, keelhauling, etc. * slavery: the perpetrator is sold and their former property and any revenue of their sale go to the victim or their family Crimes that never happen Some crimes are too demeaning for a noble to make public in any sort of trial. Particularly rape and fraud imply weakness or gullibility, respectively, nothing any noble would admit to. So most nobles take matters into their own hands in these cases. Vigilantism is rampant, and many ‘meaningless crimes’ can be traced to some dark event that 'never happened'. Pets Abusing any slave never amounts to more than vandalism in the legal system of the Empire. Pet earrings, on the other hand, are treated as a clear order issued by the owner, so any perpetrator would not only be persecuted for damaging the owner's property, but also for defying a direct order by the owning noble (or commoner). Tax Evasion A particular spot in legal hell is reserved for anyone daring to attempt not to pay their taxes. As the chain of command through the nobility is very short, even not paying your local knight technically means you are withholding herons from the emperor, and the Chancellory would like to have a word with you. While having this kind of firepower at the tip of their fingers is a strong option for any noble suspecting foul play, there is a drawback - if the chancellory gets involved, they keep all the money, all outstanding taxes, all penalties and late fees. If the local noble solves the mess, they can keep all of it minus their usual upwards tax percentage. This mechanism cleans up the chancellory's slate quite nicely and actually only gets them involved in the very big cases or those of nobles with no assets at all to sort out cases like that. Compared to other crimes, tax evasion is punished rarely with physical punishment, only harsh penal fees. Prosecution Whether a case is brought to prosecution is highly variable depending on the location and people involved. Usually, the claim has to be made by the victim, making it hard to find someone of sufficient standing to speak for the dead. The judge will always be the ‘next higher Lord’ above the parties involved. This makes justice a highly subjective matter, but on the other hand proceedings are usually extremely swift. Also, if Nobles are concerned, a crime is more a matter of honor than property damage, and usually they take care of that personally, creatively and violently. One can barely stress enough that within their fief, a noble’s rule is absolute. They can meet out any punishment or pardon however they please. And while this absolutism is an awfully unjust system, it makes for a perverse kind of legal stability and foreseeability - Your Lord’s word is Law, no appeal, no interpretations. The social structure of three very distinct strata also creates some kind of internal control mechanism. Commoners will always watch carefully how things among the slaves are settled, as they are the ones profiting directly from the cheap slave labour. Anything threatening the system would be quenched instantly by the commoners. Nobles carefully watch how commoners settle things, both to ensure the slaves stay down and to keep the commoners from attaining any real power. The constant backstabbing and jostling for status among the nobility is what keeps the nobles checking on each other - everyone not adhering to the well-known rules will be impeachable, considered weak or risking an uprising and will soon see himself under constant attack from his enemies who will try to gain from his situation. Legal exceptions for Priests Under certain circumstances affiliation with the one of the Churches bestows some protection against prosecution. These rights come out of historic circumstances and are generally considered means to curb the nobles’ power over the workings of the church. Some famous legal exceptions for the members of the church are: *For Temple Belligra priests, the 'actus reus' of trespassing, assault or murder 2nd does not exist. *For Temple Verata priests, the 'actus reus' of trespassing, theft and espionage does not exist. *Temple Jansahar priests, little surprise here, can not be accused of adultery. Also, the ‘actus reus’ of harmful negligence does not exist for them. Legal exceptions for Noble Houses Noble Houses with their strong beliefs have various ‘laws’ and exceptions that sometimes even extend outside intra-house matters: *Any Quetzal may freely attack and / or harm the Quetzal one step ahead of them in any line of succession. *Any Kyothari woman is officially considered a slave towards her father / husband / commanding officer, though this can be widely ignored if the local household adheres to the old Medina traditions. *Any Cournicova man is considered not culpable in any circumstance, his mother / wife will be prosecuted instead. *Almaviva Carmencitas are never culpable of adultery. *If a noble has an oath-bound sword-brother, the sword-brother can take any punishment upon himself instead of said noble. Adoption and illegitimate children *Usually, any child is born with the status of his or her mother. *Both commoners and nobles can officially adopt slave or commoner children, raising them to their status. *Only nobles can acknowledge illegitimate offspring, which doesn't change their status unless they are the last living relatives, in which case they are entitled to claim their heritage as if they had been born noble. *Usually, adopted children are raised in the adopting household. If their mother moves in with them depends on the generosity of the adopting parents, but this is a rare thing to happen. Illegitimate offspring are usually raised in the household of their birthmother, though if granted appanage, this will be a rather well-off household and treated as commoners even if slaves. New Planets coming into the Fold Newly conquered (liberated) planets joining the Empire are supposed to follow exactly the same rules as all others. But it is usually left in the hands of the ruling Duke to decide how fast those rules have to be implemented as not to risk an uprising by an alienated population. The top ranks of the Empire rather think in generations than in years, and their plans reflect that attitude. Other Articles about Legalities Legalities Category:Society Category:Umbrella Articles